Only 2.2% of Nigerians will benefit from new minimum wage - NBS report – Newstrends
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Only 2.2% of Nigerians will benefit from new minimum wage – NBS report

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Only 2.2% of Nigerians will benefit from new minimum wage – NBS report

About 2.2 per cent of the Nigerian population currently put at 229 million will benefit from a new minimum wage being negotiated, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics has shown.
Specifically, the new NBS report stated that 5.3 million of a total of 76 million workers (33.2 per cent of the total population) would benefit from the wage increase.

A back-of envelope calculation by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that 1.2 million (23 per cent) and 0.3 million (six per cent) work with the federal government, drawing salaries from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and government-owned enterprises respectively.

Also, another 1.3 million (25 per cent) and 0.7 million (13 per cent) work with the state governments, their agencies and local government areas. The remaining 1.8 million (34 per cent) work in formal private organisations.

While experts believe that civil and public servants deserve more in terms of their take home packages, they, nonetheless, observed that for the federal and subnational governments to address the wage crisis in the country, they have to do more in reducing the cost of living and provide enabling environment for businesses to thrive, which will in turn improve the livelihoods of millions of citizens that are wallowing in poverty.

And unlike in advanced societies, whatever civil servants earn in Nigeria will directly or indirectly be shared with the 66.8 per cent remaining population.

In developed societies, there are strong and sustainable safety nets for the people who are not working or have lost their jobs in order for them to have a decent life.

Also, the state takes care of people who have retired as they are seen as assets in society and not as liability to their families.

While there are agencies responsible for similar interventions here in Nigeria and other developing economies, they are far from the ideal.

Experts believe that many civil and public servants in Nigeria borrow or use other legal and dubious means to augment what they get as salary in order to meet up with the demand for the basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, health, education and transportation for their immediate and extended families.

The federal minimum wage, currently at N30,000, was last raised in 2019, when the inflation rate was between 11 and 12 per cent.

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However, the purchasing power of the naira has since been eroded by 276 per cent (compared to what it was in 2019), hence the clamour for an enhanced salary structure.

Nigeria among worse salary payers in Africa

Findings revealed that Nigeria is ranked 44th in Africa in terms of paying the lowest minimum wage, according to Professor Kemi Okuwa of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). Analysis revealed that out of the 76 million workers in the country, only 5.3 million (6.9 per cent) work in the formal sector and are collecting wages.

The findings showed that this is the group that is likely to benefit most from a new minimum wage that has remained contentious and a source of discord between the federal, state and local governments on the one hand and the organised labour on the other hand.

Currently, there is a stalemate in the polity as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have rejected the N62,000 minimum wage offered by the federal government, even as the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) said they could not afford to pay the figure.

Ironically, the organised labour said anything below N250, 000 would not serve as a living wage which Nigerian workers were aspiring to have.

Many pundits, including some members of the National Assembly, are suggesting that something in the range of N100,000 as minimum wage will uplift the lives of the working class without inducing additional inflation that will hurt the economy further.

Government and private sector workers

In his recent analysis, the Managing Director and Chief Economist of Analysts Data Services and Resources (ADSR), Dr Afolabi Olowookere, said regardless of how the recommendation in the new template for salaries might differ from what labour was currently asking for, both parties would find a common ground and in the final outcome there would be more money for labour.

He, however, said that when the labour finally “wins” the minimum wage battle, another thing that would remain obvious was in dissecting the discrepancy between current low-wage and high-wage workers; wage increase and productivity increase; and then cost of living and standard of living.

Olowookere said, “The implication is that the government will be the major institution that will pay the minimum wage. The private sector is largely informal.

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“The question now is, when they benefit, others will also want to benefit from them, either because they are dependent on them or they are selling things to them.

“The major message is that even when we increase the salary for these few people, we should not lose sight of other people that are dependent on them, and the people that are unemployed; they are many and we don’t have unemployment benefits in Nigeria.

“What also happens to those in the informal sector, even though they are working, they are not earning the minimum wage. The only benefit they can derive is to increase prices of goods and services to the extent that they can squeeze out from those who have benefited.”

Dilemma of workers in states

Dr Olowookere also said that attention should be paid to states, especially given that some of them were not yet paying the N30,000 agreed during the last upward review, which he noted had expired.

He said, “The analysis of the states’ budget performance shows that most of them are using 100 per cent of IGR to pay salaries.

“If there is no Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), they can’t pay salaries. So, if you increase wages, what will be the implication on their performance? How would states with low revenue cope?”

Findings revealed that 15 state governments are yet to implement the old wage of N30,000. They are Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Gombe, Niger, Borno, Sokoto, Anambra, Imo, Benue, Taraba and Zamfara.

‘Reducing cost of living is the way out’

Speaking on the way forward, Dr Olowookere canvasses a sustainable solution of raising productivity and reducing cost of living for everyone.

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He said when the government continued to increase salaries without corresponding increase in productivity, the cost of living would also keep eroding whatever gain was recorded by the workers and Nigerians in general.

He said, “No doubt, Nigerian workers are due for minimum wage increase. At the current high inflation rate and low productivity level, with everyone being ‘forced’ to provide their own infrastructure, it is a matter of time before all gains are lost.”

FG, states, LGs must not politicise wages – Peterside

In a recent intervention, public policy analyst and former Director General (DG) of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, said the implications of creating new salary structures and increasing the minimum wage were complex and multifaceted, requiring the careful consideration of various factors, including economic conditions, industry dynamics and social equity goals.

He said, “Our recent experience has shown that a salary increase may start a merry-go-round of cyclical inflation, which then eats up the value, and then we are back to where we started.

“In an economy with over 40 per cent food inflation, all stakeholders must apply caution and careful measures in implementing a new salary structure.

“However, governments (federal, state and local) cannot afford to play politics with the issue of ‘living wage.’”

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FG screens Fani-Kayode, Femi Pedro, others for ambassadorial posts, Reno Omokri missing

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Reno Omokri

FG screens Fani-Kayode, Femi Pedro, others for ambassadorial posts, Reno Omokri missing

The Federal Government has begun vetting candidates for ambassadorial postings across its 109 diplomatic missions, including 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates.

According to a report by Punch, credible sources revealed that former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode and former Lagos State Deputy Governor Femi Pedro are among the individuals undergoing screening.

The paper revealed that the process is being carried out through regional offices of the Department of State Services (DSS), rather than through a centralised mechanism.

Presidency officials confirmed that nominees have been contacted and asked to submit personal, educational, and professional records.

“They’re already doing security checks with DSS. When they have cleared security checks, we will release the list. Only those who have been cleared are announced. The process is ongoing. I know that we should have a list before the end of this month (April),” an official disclosed anonymously.

Another source stated, “The vetting is not done centrally. It is based on the location of the nominees. Nominees have been reached to provide personal history and information such as where they attended school, what appointments they have held, and the like. So, it is by location.”

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Since September 2023, President Bola Tinubu has operated his foreign policy built on the “4Ds”—Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora—without confirmed ambassadors in place. That same month, he recalled more than 83 ambassadors, both career and political.

In December, sources said the President spent part of his holiday reviewing nominees for diplomatic assignments with plans to send a consolidated list to the National Assembly. However, the process was delayed in January due to financial constraints.

One presidency insider said the delay was largely due to the estimated $1 billion required to settle outstanding obligations including the arrears of foreign service staff, renovations, and vehicle replacements.

“You see, the major issue is money. Not money to pay them [ambassadors], because how much is their salaries and benefits? The main money is CAPEX [Capital Expenditure]. By the time they put the cost together to fix the issues, it is running to almost $1bn.

“Most of those embassies, almost 90 per cent, are rundown. Either the residence is not good, the embassy does not have a functional office, or their rent has expired… I understand that some of them don’t have serviceable vehicles… Some of them don’t even have power and running water,” the source explained.

Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar has also blamed the delay on lack of adequate funding.

“It is a money problem,” Tuggar said during a May 2023 ministerial briefing in Abuja. “There is no point sending out ambassadors if you do not have the funds for them to even travel to their designated countries and to run the missions effectively… Mr President is working on it, and it will be done in due course.”

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Although the 2025 budget includes provisions to address some of the issues, insiders say the funding is insufficient.

While the complete list of ambassadorial nominees remains classified, officials confirmed that several prominent figures are undergoing screening.

“They’re going to announce the appointments soon. They are being screened as we speak… FFK [Femi Fani-Kayode] is on the list. These are some of the controversial names that have been put forward as well. Then there is Fola Adeola [co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank] and Femi Pedro too. They’re moving on with the process more quickly this time,” a source said.

According to another official, the rigorous screening is intended to ensure none of the candidates pose reputational or security risks to the country.

There were speculations that former presidential aide Reno Omokri had been shortlisted, but a source in the presidency dismissed the claim.

“Reno is not on the list. But FFK is there,” the source said.

Presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga confirmed that the list will include both career and political nominees and will undergo multiple layers of review before submission to the legislature.

“Don’t forget that the ambassadorial list has two components. There are career ambassadors and political ambassadors. The foreign affairs list and the consolidated list will still go through certain processes before they are released,” he said.

Two individuals believed to be among the nominees declined to comment when contacted. They neither confirmed nor denied their inclusion.

 

FG screens Fani-Kayode, Femi Pedro, others for ambassadorial posts, Reno Omokri missing

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I didn’t collapse, says Wike, warns death rumour mongers 

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I didn’t collapse, says Wike, warns death rumour mongers 

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has debunked reports that he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital last week.

Wike described the reports of his rumoured collapse as the handiwork of “baseless” people trying to score cheap political points.

He spoke after inspecting four ongoing projects in the FCT, including the International Conference Centre.

Online posts circulating on X had surfaced alleging that the minister collapsed at an event on Friday in the FCT.

The rumour also claimed that Wike was immediately rushed to an undisclosed hospital, where he received treatment.

Reacting, Wike said, “There was no time I collapsed, there was no time anybody took me overseas. But you see me every day. The day Mr President broke iftar on his birthday, I was there.

“The next day, I led Abuja residents to pay Sallah homage. I see all those stories just died down. This is politics. We have thick skin. Those things don’t bother us. We are not distracted. We are focused on our jobs.

“So, I thank Nigerians for being worried, which should be, but people should not wish their fellow human beings such a thing to happen.

“We know that we will die one day. Nobody will remain in this world forever, but it is only God that says the day you will die, not any human being to say you will die today or you will die tomorrow.

“So, you have seen that I am even healthier than most of them who carried that rumour and I will write their condolence letters. I can assure you that I will write their condolence letters.”

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World Bank approves Tinubu’s $632m loan request

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World Bank approves Tinubu’s $632m loan request

The World Bank is poised to approve $632 million in new loans to Nigeria today (Monday), amid growing concerns over the country’s expanding debt profile.

The loans are intended to support important sectors such as nutrition enhancement and quality basic education.

According to data obtained from the World Bank’s website on Sunday, the two loans scheduled to be approved today are $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 initiative and $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme.

Both projects are now in the negotiating phase and are likely to gain final clearance later today.

These new loans are part of the World Bank’s overall strategy to support Nigeria’s development agenda, which focuses on healthcare, education, and community resilience.

The loans will support the government’s efforts to improve nutrition and education for Nigerian children.

Additionally, the World Bank approved a $500 million loan for Nigeria’s Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme on March 28, 2025, a significant step towards addressing the country’s economic challenges through expanded access.

The initiative, formally known as the NIGERIA: Community Action (for) Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme, is intended to give critical support to households impacted by economic downturns while also strengthening community resilience.

The initiative focuses on vulnerable populations, providing assistance to households and small companies to help them cope with economic difficulties.

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The loan clearance is likely to considerably boost Nigeria’s efforts to revive the economy through grassroots backing, especially given current issues such as inflation and high living costs.

The stimulus plan will prioritise enhancing food security and developing economic possibilities for the populations most affected by recent economic changes.

This decision came after a delay in distributing funds for a previous loan aimed at poor and vulnerable Nigerians.

Further investigation by The PUNCH revealed that the World Bank disbursed around $315 million to Nigeria from the $800 million allocated for the National Social Safety-net Program Scale Up.

Nigeria is yet to receive further funding from the World Bank for this loan project, which was approved in December 2021. The delay in grant release is most likely due to fraud detected under the initiative.

In honour of the 2023 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, President Bola Tinubu unveiled a social safety net programme that will distribute N25,000 to 15 million households over the course of three months.

The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation was responsible for managing the $800 million World Bank loan initiative.

However, due to allegations of embezzlement, the federal government was forced to stop the cash transfer program for further investigation and reform.

Betta Edu, a former humanitarian minister, was previously suspended for misappropriating N585 million set aside for palliative care distribution.

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Furthermore, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, Edu’s predecessor, was under investigation by the EFCC. The former minister is being investigated for allegedly laundering N37.1 billion during her stint as minister.

The World Bank also imposed sanctions on people and businesses discovered to be engaging in fraud under the initiatives.

According to the World Bank’s official website, this will bring Nigeria’s total approved loans to $9.25 billion over three years, indicating a growing reliance on multilateral funding to support critical sectors of the economy such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, and financial resilience.

A review of Nigeria’s World Bank loan approvals since 2023, under President Bola Tinubu’s government, reveals a huge rise in funding commitments.

In 2023, the World Bank approved $2.7 billion in loans for renewable energy, women’s empowerment, education, and the power sector. In 2024, funding approvals totalled $4.32 billion for various projects.

This increase was largely due to Nigeria’s growing need for financial assistance to stabilise the economy amid fiscal pressures and rising public debt.

Under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the World Bank granted around 11 different credit projects for Nigeria.

In less than two years, the federal government has acquired loans from the World Bank totalling $7.45 billion, raising concerns about the mounting debt burden. According to data from the Debt Management Office, the World Bank’s portion of Nigeria’s external debt is $17.32 billion as of the third quarter of 2024.

The International Development Association is owing the majority of this debt, which amounts to $16.84 billion, or 39.14 per cent of Nigeria’s total external debt.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, another World Bank subsidiary, is owing $485.08 million, or 1.13 per cent.

While the planned World Bank loans may give much-needed budgetary relief, concerns persist about the country’s mounting debt burden.

According to recent data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country has spent $5.47 billion servicing external debt in the last 14 months, underscoring the strain on its foreign reserves.

 

World Bank approves Tinubu’s $632m loan request

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